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July 17, 2007

Update: Owner of boa constrictor found

NORTH KINGSTOWN -- The tale of the boa constrictor dropped off at the police station last night has taken another twist.

At first, Capt. Charles Brennan said police were told that the 5-foot-long snake had been spotted on Ten Rod Road by by West Warwick resident Michael Medeiros around 10:30 p.m.

He then dropped it off at the police station.

A shift lieutenant called in Animal Control Officer Mary MacLaughlin to handle the snake, who put it in a plastic tote with a lid.

The snake spent the night in a lieutenant’s office at the police station, and MacLaughlin took it to the dog pound this morning.

“It was very mild-mannered and relaxed,” said MacLaughlin. The snake, about as thick as a soda can, “is very healthy and looks well-cared for,” she added.

Boa constrictors, found in Mexico and South America, feed at night on lizards, birds, bats and squirrels.

Today, McLaughlin called several pet stores and Roger Williams Park Zoo to find a temporary home for the reptile, which can grow as long as 13 feet.

In the meantime, the police were looking for the owner. Said MacLaughlin, “We get a lot of missing cat and dog calls, but not too many calls for snakes.”

In the course of checking with pet stores, however, police were told at one place that the boa constrictor sounded familiar, Brennan said later today. A man had been in, trying to sell such a snake.

Turns out that it was Medeiros, who had brought in the boa constrictor the night before.

He'd just bought a python, Brennan said, and had been trying to sell the boa constrictor.

Apparently when he couldn't, he decided to drop it off at the police station instead.

-- Journal staff writer Paul Davis

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 5:14 PM | Permalink

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skeeta98 | July 17, 2007 9:08 PM link

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